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Top Gear row floors co-host Hammond

Hammond left in the lurch without work when show’s gravy train suddenly derails.

Richard Hammond has been left in the lurch since Top Gear ended, revealing he had cleared the decks to film the next season before his run on the television show came to a sudden end.

Hammond was left without TV work after his former co-host Jeremy Clarkson was sacked from the hit motoring show as a result of an altercation with one of the show's producers.

It seems the trio (Clarkson, Hammond and co-host James May) didn't expect the gravy train to end any time soon.

"I'd cleared the decks, rather, for Top Gear, I mean I've always done," said Hammond.

The media personality has been working as a co-host on the show for 13 of his almost 30-year career in showbusiness. Because of Top Gear's all-consuming nature, Hammond had nothing else booked in.

"Ive been doing this job 27 years, different radio and television shows, I've done a lot, but I'd cleared the decks ready for the show to carry on. Now it isn't, we'll figure out what we're going to do and I'll be busy again," he said.

"There isn't really time to do a great deal alongside Top Gear, not if you're doing it well."

The trio (above) are rumoured to be in talks to create a spin-off of the popular motoring programme with streaming sites Netflix and Hulu, and British network ITV, while the BBC will continue to broadcast the original show with new host Chris Evans.

Hammond says they will definitely make something similar because the audience is still clamouring for it, and hinted that they were looking into a new area of television on which to broadcast.

"We won't stop doing what we do until the audience tells us to stop, ... then we'll retire. But the audience hasn't told us that yet so we're going to carry on," he said.

"TV is a really big place and it's getting bigger.

"So we might have to go and do it in a different corner but it's a massive opportunity, television. There's a million places to make TV so we'll go and do it somewhere.

"We'll do something. We're not over yet, we're not dead, we're still breathing ... we'll find a way of carrying on doing what we do."

The final Top Gear featuring the original trio will broadcast on TV3 on July 16.

It will feature previously recorded segments with Clarkson but only Hammond and May in the studio.

Hammond admits that the show's abrupt end was upsetting, and he doesn't really see it as being the end.

"It was 13 years doing that job but ... it will end with a bang but that isn't the bang. It will be a big bang when it finally ends."

After a "challenging year" the trio of car lovers are going to Australia this month for their live show, which has been renamed Clarkson, Hammond and May Live - dropping any mention of Top Gear.

"We've themed it the Cr-Ashes. We decided, 'well, what does an Australian audience like? Well, they like beating up the Poms and we like having a go at the Aussies'," he said. "So we thought, 'let's theme the whole bloody thing around competition'."

The trio will compete against the Aussie team of Shane Jacobson, Top Gear Australia co-host Steve Pizzati and V8 Supercars anchor Riana Crehan.

It seems the live show will provide some comfort to the jilted Hammond.

"Coming over to Australia is always good because there's a lot of like-minded people there.

"And the best thing about doing the live shows is actually you can just walk into a room with a load of mates," he said.

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